House
House music
grew out of the post-disco dance club culture of the early '80s. After
disco became popular, certain urban DJs — particularly those in gay communities
— altered the music to make it less pop-oriented. The beat became more
mechanical and the bass grooves became deeper, while elements of electronic
synth pop, Latin soul, dub reggae, rap, and jazz were grafted over the
music's insistent, unvarying four-four beat. Frequently, the music was
purely instrumental and when there were vocalists, they were faceless
female divas that often sang wordless melodies. By the late '80s, house
had broken out of underground clubs in cities like Chicago, New York,
and London, and had begun making inroads on the pop charts, particularly
in England and Europe but later in America under the guise of artists
like C+C Music Factory and Madonna. At the same time, house was breaking
into the pop charts; it fragmented into a number of subgenres, including
hip-house, ambient house, and most significantly, acid house (a subgenre
of house with the instantly recognizable squelch of Roland's TB-303 bass-line
generator). During the '90s, house ceased to be cutting-edge music, yet
it remained popular in clubs throughout Europe and America. At the end
of the decade, a new wave of progressive house artists including Daft
Punk, Basement Jaxx, and House of 909 brought the music back to critical
quarters with praised full-length works.
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